论《水浒传》开篇神奇怪异故事之功能

On the Functions of Fancy Prelude in Heroes of the Marshes

明清长篇小说中有一个很普遍的奇特现象,这就是往往以神奇怪异的故事开端。纵观此类作品,大体有三种模式。而《水浒传》作为章回小说的发轫之作更具有典型意义,其开篇的神奇怪异故事,功能不再仅仅是“入话”或引子,而是与整部作品融为一体,起着统摄全篇、表现主题、为人物辩护、解释的作用,显示出作者高超的叙事策略。这在一定程度上影响了《红楼梦》的艺术构思。

Novels during Ming and Qing Dynasty universally have a unique phenomenon, which they usually start with the fancy stories. Browsing this type of works, there are about three modes. In contract Shuihu.zhuan , as the precedent of the serial stories, seems more typical. Its beginning story not orgly functions as ＂preliminary＂ or introduction, but goes further to integrate into the whole story. It dominates the whole text, shows the topic, defends and explains for the characters in the novel. All these functions indicate author＇ s highly skillful narrative strategies. Thus, to some extent, it affects the artistic conception of A Dream of Red Mansions .